The band, Phafner, never did get too far, or should I say far enough? The band, comprised of farm boys from Marshalltown, Iowa, consisted of two sets of brothers: Dale Shultz (guitar) & James Shultz (bass), Steve Smith (lead guitar) & Greg Smith (vocals), along with drums by Steve Gustafson.
In one of the greatest examples of D.I.Y ethic the band recorded six songs in a local basement, and pressed only 50 copies of the album (on Dragon Records) to attract label interests.
50 copies? Yup. Now you know why it's so sought after, hardly any were made. But, that doesn't mean that it's not good. In fact, if you're into guitar driven blues based hard rock with fuzz, (basically, the reason I started this page) this album pack just as many punches as any other you'd find in the racks. Compared toi the likes of Josephus, and early Edgar Winter.
There's a great story about the discovery of this long defunct band and it's LP and accommodating single that can be read here at PUREPOP
It's way too often when doing research for this page and writing about the albums featured here that you'll find a truly great band who's only put out 1 album, and the fallen into obscurity. Leaving one to wonder "what if" that album got just a little more attention, a little more label support, distribution, promotion. Within it you'll always find great musicianship, originality, passion, and as much fire as any of the big guys.
Phafner's Overdrive is no exception.
